News of a two-week ceasefire aimed at resolving the conflict comes too late for this growing season, says Ali Capper, who represents British apple and pear growers. “Sadly, even if it all ends tomorrow, the costs are baked in now.”
On Tuesday evening, April 7, 2026, Trump announced that he had agreed to a two-week ceasefire with Iran, conditional on the immediate and safe reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
When Capper woke to news that war had broken out in Iran, she says she “felt quite sick” anticipating the repercussions for the UK farming industry.
Farmers and growers in peak planting season are grappling with spiraling costs as the conflict pushes up the price of fuel and fertilizer.
Pressures on British apple and pear growers
Meanwhile, as British apple and pear growers face severe problems due to rising growing costs, the Anderson Centre, which provides analysis and research to organizations across the agricultural sector and also conducted a study for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, warns of “new pressures on farming costs.”
Farmers have told the National Farmers’ Union that they cannot afford the additional costs, and food prices are likely to rise as a result, according to the BBC.
Read also: Fish and chips in UK under fire in the Iran war
On her farm in Suckley, Worcestershire, Ali says her fertilizer costs have gone up by 40%, red diesel she uses for her tractors has gone up 100% and transport costs are up by about 20%.
A third of the world’s fertilizer usually passes through the Strait of Hormuz, which has been effectively blocked during the conflict and consequently prices have shot up in recent weeks.
Red diesel, a fuel used by farmers in off-road vehicles, machinery and heating has seen its price pushed up by the soaring cost of brent crude – the global benchmark for oil prices.
This all feeds into the cost of food production. Even if the conflict ends within the next two weeks, the Food and Drink Federation expects UK food inflation to reach at least 9% before the end of the year.
Increased plant protection products and packaging
Ali is also anticipating rises in the cost of plant protection products and packaging.
“We will have to pass this on,” she says, adding it was up to the supermarkets she sells to how much they put prices up to customers.
She says the apple and pear sector was already hit by a 30% increase in the cost of production across 2022 and 2023, after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
“It was really brutal and, I have to say, when I woke up to the news that it had started again, in Iran, I did feel quite sick,” she says.
She recalls how many farmers went out of business, or became loss-making, during the Ukraine-Russia conflict.
“We can’t go there again. There’s no flex in the system.”
Read also: Food inflation in UK exacerbates by climate
Potato farmer Ben Savidge says he hopes “that it falls our way at the end”
Savidge says if the price of red diesel stays high planting will cost around £5 ($ 6.7)more per tonne that before the Iran conflict.
“[Red diesel] was 65-70p a litre back in December,” he says.
But his last two loads cost him between 96 and £1.05p a litre.
For now, he’s having to absorb the extra cost for planting his potatoes on his farm in Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire, which will end up as chips, as he agreed a contract with his customers at the start of this year.
British Apples and Pears Limited (BAPL), published findings from its latest grower survey conducted in late 2025, in March, showing that audit and compliance demands and labour costs remain the main pressures on UK apple and pear businesses, according to Freshplaza.
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